Apple Maps app drives users astray

A word to the wise for those trying to get to the White House: Don't ask your updated iPhone for directions.

If you’ve downloaded and installed Apple’s iOS6, the company's latest operating system released Wednesday, the instructions are likely to get you in hot water with a Secret Service agent or two. They practically lead to the front door.

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But explaining a wrong turn might still be easier than dealing with the backlash Apple is facing Thursday from iPhone and iPad customers unhappy with its new Maps application.

Apple did not immediately return a request for comment.

But tech blogs and social networks are up to their ears with complaints from iPhone users upset with the application, which replaces a Google-based maps service that came with previous operating systems. A Tumblr blog and pair of Twitter accounts — which were quickly suspended — were even set up to mock the new feature.

Some of the worst map mistakes are coming out of Europe, where users say Apple’s Maps app has added another airport to Ireland, changed the name of an English town, and is referring to Berlin as Schoeneiche Bei Berlin. It's also reportedly missing some transit stations.

In Washington, a search for the Jefferson Memorial returns two locations — one right on the edge of the Tidal Basin, and one hundreds of feet away that links to the memorial's information on Yelp — one of Apple's partners in the new Maps app.

And trying to navigate to the U.S. Naval Observatory by car or foot — public transit directions aren't available at all on the new application — directs you closer to Vice President Joe Biden's residence than main observatory buildings.

Touted in the update is the inclusion of "3D maps," but those are drawing scrutiny as well for overly distorting some of the locations they depict. The Connecticut Avenue Bridge over Rock Creek Park, for example, turns into a roller coaster ride of sorts when viewed closely in 3D mode.

But with Apple clocking in as the world’s most valuable public company, it may take more than an app snafu to do the brand any real damage.

“If any other company had this many issues with their flagship update they would be getting pilloried, but Apple still manages to hold on to [Steve] Jobs's 'reality distortion field,'” said Ben Fortney, new media director at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, who uses an Android-based smartphone.

Tal Kopan contributed to this report.

This article first appeared on POLITICO Pro at 2:26 p.m. on September 20, 2012.